For those that don't know, I'm still fairly new to the real estate business(2 yrs). I strive to learn something new everyday and think this site is great for that exact thing. I had a situation happen that wanted to discuss and hopefully get some feedback on.
Yesterday I was browsing through some listings for a few of my prospects. Well, I came across an apartment complex that a client of mine put two offers on. I thought that we put pretty stong offers on the property, but they were both completely rejected, no counter. Well the property did get an accepted offer about a week after ours was rejected. I told the listing agent to keep me informed in case the deal fell through.
Well while looking yesterday I noticed that the listing had expired so I decided to email the agent and ask him if it ever closed. He told me they got to within a week of closing when it was "discovered" by the title search that the owner had several judgements against all of his properties that he failed to mention to the listing agents. The listing agent also told me he thought the owner was about to give up and let the banks take his properties.
I have a few different questions on this. The first being what can we as agents do to help protect ourselves from this type of situation?
My other question would be is the buyer in this situation entitled to any sort of damages? I mean what if they had inspections and appraisals done? Are they just out of luck?
Finally, what can I do to help my buyer get a step ahead in case the properties are forclosed? Is there anything we can do before they are forclosed?
I look forward to hearing all the responses on this subject and appreciate any and all input.
Comments(2)